The USS Midway Museum has more than 60 exhibits with a collection of 25 restored aircraft, a self-guided audio tour, narrated by Midway sailors, and three flight simulators.

USS Midway (CVB/CVA/CV-41) was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class, and the first to be commissioned after the end of World War II. Active in the Vietnam War and in Operation Desert Storm.

Midway was laid down 27 October 1943 by Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Virginia. Her revolutionary hull design was based on what would have been the Montana class battleships and gave her superior maneuverability over all previous carriers. She was launched 20 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Bradford William Ripley, Jr.; and commissioned 10 September 1945, Captain Joseph F. Bolger in command.

USS Midway served in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Pacific. She served through Vietnam and 1991 Gulf conflicts.

From the deck of USS Midway: – German V2 rocket launched – first and last air-to-air kills in Vietnam war – the final carrier launching of a Navy fleet F-4S Phantom II – Midway F-18 mistakenly dropped a 500 pound general-purpose bomb on the deck of USS Reeves during training exercises in the Indian Ocean, creating a 5-foot hole in the bow

In August 1991, Midway sailed to Pearl Harbor where she was replaced by USS Independence as the forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka, Japan. Midway then sailed to San Diego where she was decommissioned at Naval Air Station North Island on 11 April 1992. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 March 1997. During the decommissioning process, she was used to film portions of the movie “At Sea,” a documentary on carrier life shown only at the Navy Museum in Washington D.C.

On 10 January 2004 the ship was moored at her final location at the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego, where she was opened to the public on 7 June 2004. In the first year of operation, the museum welcomed aboard 879,281 guests.

USS Midway Museum
910 N. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day). Last admission is at 4 p.m.

Main Phone number: (619)544-9600

http://www.midway.org/

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Midway_(CV-41)

Web cam:
http://live6.truelook.com/ecodb/face/newface.jsp?func=live&name=/ecodb/1apsw&overlay=default&skin=Oct2004CCDC&useapplet=true&time=1104101447229&width=640&height=480&quality=65&catalogname=catalog&preset=SOSD-CCDC/PLAY/USS+Midway+museum